If someone told you a month ago that hundreds of Torontonians would be clamouring to spend the night with our Mayor, you’d have probably chuckled. But as seen on July 28 (and 29) during Toronto’s longest continuous council meeting ever, in which citizens were invited to voice their concerns about, and suggestions for, cost savings and the city’s budget, a new kind of energy has united people. The drab interior of a cramped committee room became a 22-hour hot spot as the city’s executive committee sat through more than 160 deputations regarding the KPMG-penned core service review aiming to find cash to fill the city’s $774-million budget crater.

Why is City Hall suddenly the place to be? Is Toronto really that boring in late July? Were all the patios full? “No,” said Ward 21 councillor Joe Mihevc. “What Rob Ford has done is arisen a sleeping city,” the City Hall veteran explained over the hum of activity in an adjacent deputation overflow room while the marathon meeting continued. He said that while Ford rode in on a wave of buzzwords in the vein of “reduce government,” all the train cars attached to his gravy-engine-that-could are now in plain view. The sheen of magical savings has been tarnished by the reality of precious lost services.

“When you unpack what that means, it means the crossing guard that helps my kid get to school, it means the water that reduced my family’s dental bill won’t have fluoride in it, it means the library where I learned to read is at risk of closing,” Mihevc said.

“There’s a different ethos in the air.”

Nelson Wiseman, professor of politics at the University of Toronto, has a similar perspective, broken into two parts. The first is that the intensity being observed at City Hall is a matter of scale. “It depends on whose ox is being gored. If you’re talking about changing the traffic flow on one block somewhere in Etobicoke, fewer people are going to be involved than if you talk about shutting down libraries, which is a cross-Toronto issue.”

The other part is that people are coming out against the current administration because they’re just learning what electing Ford actually translates into in terms of cuts: “He didn’t say when he was running that electing him might mean laying off police or shutting down libraries.”

Denzil Minnan-Wong, councillor for Ward 34 and chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, agreed that there has been an awakening in Torontonians, but contends it happened during two seminal events from David Miller’s time in office. “The first was about five years ago, with land transfer tax and motor vehicle registration. The second was the municipal [garbage] strike,” Minnan-Wong said.

Fair enough, but no speaker at the core services review meeting used their allotted three minutes to discuss those issues.

Two observers, Robert Sherrin and Astrid Janson, took in the theatrics, a new experience for both of them triggered by the threat of the core service review recommendations. “We’re just concerned that the city will deteriorate in many important ways, whether it be socially, culturally,” Sherrin said. “People will also feel very defeated if these things are railroaded,” Janson added.

Still, Minnan-Wong questioned whether the deputants were an accurate sample of Torontonians: “One can’t but lament the fact that there aren’t more ordinary people, taxpayers, homeowners coming out to voice their opinions,” he said, noting that his constituents’ feelings on cuts don’t reflect those of the majority of deputants. “There’s been some level of organization to get these people out.”

There’s some truth to that, although the organization isn’t all union-made. Quite a few people arrived through Facebook invitations. One event, called “All Against Ford’s Cuts Unite PICNIC!” asked people to converge at City Hall’s green roof for a peaceful picnic, and was organized by political newbie Teresa Ascencao. “I was a little worried because I hadn’t done anything like this before,” she said, noting that she met many people who were experiencing council deputations for the first time. “The energy’s out there,” she said. “I learned a lot, met other activists who taught me how to campaign, and it was a great eye-opening experience.”

Ascencao also added that seeing deputants speak passionately about their city motivates her to expand her own knowledge of city workings so she can be ready for the day she’s bombarded, as she puts it, with questions following a deputation.

Roy Mitchell is another name attached to recent social media-based civic engagement. He’s not entirely new to getting involved in city issues, but the executive director of non-profit video centre Trinity Square Video and a board member of Pride Toronto says that, while he’s never been politically dormant, in the past he mostly focused on “gay stuff.”

“Now [through social media] I’ve found I can voice my concerns in ways that work; in ways that build community and challenge people who attempt to divide,” he explained.

A large part of getting involved means Facebook. In some cases, attendees don’t even need to appear, like in the case of a group planning to go to Rob Ford’s cottage for Pride, after the Mayor steadfastly refused to have any part in the annual festivities.

“Obviously nobody intended to go, but you opened up conversation.”

Barry A. Sanders is another Torontonian bringing people together around city issues. He formed a Facebook group called “Cyclists, Let’s All Call the Mayor!” to utilize Rob Ford’s trademark “public hotline.”

“Getting engaged is a very new thing for me,” noted the full-time animator and recently minted part-time agitator. He agrees there’s been a tangible swell of people engaging in municipal politics recently, and while it comes post-election, “it’s better than people not doing anything well past the point they should have.”

A surge in activity isn’t limited to Facebook: dearmayorford.com is a recently launched website documenting public open letters to the Mayor on everything from Riverdale Farm to libraries to HIV and AIDS testing. Doubtlessly cathartic, the non-partisan project is actually creating a way for the Mayor’s office to respond directly to the letters in the “hopes of creating transparent and proactive conversation that is representative of the whole city” according to the plan posted on the site.

Beyond the keyboard, engagement is even creeping into alleyways thanks to Ford’s attempts at eradicating graffiti. More one-way missives, Toronto hasn’t seen so many creative renditions — from plays on the Obey logo to Fat Bastard of Austin Powers’ films to the Goonies’ Sloth — of a politician in years.

And then there’s Margaret Atwood. The luminary crashed the servers hosting a petition against library cuts just by directing her Twitter followers there. Her increased participation in municipal politics was sparked by “Twin Ford Mayor” as she described the brothers Ford. Doug Ford only heightened her involvement after brushing off her thoughts on library cuts and remarking that the renowned author “could walk right by me. I wouldn’t have a clue who she is.” He’s eating those words now. Meanwhile, a Facebook group called Margaret Atwood for Mayor has topped 7,000 members and graffiti echoing the sentiment has been spotted in the city.

Ultimately, no matter what people think of the Mayor, it’s increasingly clear he’s a catalyst.

“He’s a provocative, polarizing figure and a lot of things he says to people aggravate them. Many more opponents are showing up to these meetings rather than supporters,” Wiseman concluded.

He’s also bringing a wide spectrum of people together in a common space. Last week’s deputation marathon was just a sample of what’s in store, Mitchell suggested. “I sat beside people who cared about libraries, the arts, feeding hungry children, removing snow and caring for seniors. We rarely have an opportunity to come together,” he said. “This is a step into something bigger.”

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